Post by STREAMY ?! on Feb 24, 2008 14:18:25 GMT -5
Well I went over my story from forever ago and added some stuff....more coming soon.
Chapter 1
Brookheart
Brookheart shivered. It was the middle of leaf-bare, and she was out on an unsuccessful hunting patrol with her best friend Sunclaw, apprentice Hawkpaw, and another Clanmate, Whitefrost. She was lagging behind, thinking, and Hawkpaw stepped back to talk to her. "What's wrong?" he mewed. Brookheart shook her head and replied, "Nothing, just thinking." Her apprentice was kind enough not to answer. She thanked StarClan that he was so smart, because she did not particularly want to discuss the subject with him, nor any other cat. Suddenly her ears caught a sound. She recognized the sound of a squirrel scuffling the ground with its paws to find a nut. She turned, dropped into the hunter's crouch, and padded forward as lightly as she could, avoiding the dead leaves on the ground. She soon noticed that the squirrel was more than a bit scrawny, but that was normal for leaf-bare. She got close and pounced, digging her claws into the creature's throat before it could squeal. She took it in her powerful jaws, turned, and raced back toward the patrol. “Wait! I gart somfin!” she mewed, the squirrel garbling her speech. “Huh?” asked Whitefrost. She dropped the squirrel and repeated, "I found this. It's probably running short on provisions. Would have starved, anyway."
"Good job," Sunclaw said.
"Hey, I'm not an apprentice," she mewed, frowning.
"Well, I'm sorry for congratulating you for finding prey in this...cold."
"Whatever." She turned and walked back to camp, yowling back, "I'm going back. Good luck on your own." She knew she got mad easily, but Brookheart knew this was over the top. Returning home from a hunting patrol just a while after leaving for it? It just didn't happen. But she had another thought on her mind, and it was nagging her.
Chapter 2
Reedclaw
Reedclaw glanced at the rabbit. It was nibbling at a nut near a heather clump, at the entrance of its burrow. He dropped into the hunter’s crouch, crept up very quietly up behind the rabbit, and pounced. He killed it fast and mercifully with a bite in the throat as soon as his claws had sunk into its light brown fur and pierced its skin. He swiveled around, and trotted quickly up to the rest of his hunting patrol. The young tom picked up the rest of his catch—a swallow, a mouse, and a thrush—and found he couldn’t hold it all in his mouth. A great catch for the middle of leaf-bare. He dropped his fresh-kill and mewed quietly to a Clanmate, Boulderpelt; “Can you help me carry this prey?” Boulderpelt hadn’t caught much; he’d gotten unlucky. The older warrior had only caught a small vole and a scrawny squirrel. He dipped his head. “Very well.”
Suddenly, a smile crept around Reedclaw’s lips. Boulderpelt narrowed his eyes. “What?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Though he didn’t say anything, Reedclaw’s yellow eyes sparkled like the sun. Boulderpelt’s own optics narrowed until they were merely a slit; Reedclaw could barely see the tom’s amber orbs. Boulderpelt opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, then they heard a yowl coming from behind them, a little far off. “Reedclaw! Boulderpelt! What’s keeping you?” It was Russetfoot, their deputy. She had a short temper and was pretty impatient, so both cats glanced at each other, picked up the fresh-kill, and scurried up the hill like mice to catch up with the rest of the patrol. Whitestripe, a cat who always made fun of every other cat and seemed to like to be mean—maybe that was a reason why he had almost no friends—smirked. “Really, you two need to stop chatting and pay attention more. I’d think that you didn’t realize you weren’t an apprentice anymore, Reedclaw.” Reedclaw unsheathed his claws and his lips pulled back in the beginning of a snarl, but Russetfoot cut in before he could say anything, or do what he was tempted to do—jump on top of Whitestripe and rip his fur off. “You two, stop. Now.” Both cats glared at each other, dark yellow and reddish-tinted eyes meeting and seeming to send off an electric charge into the air. The atmosphere suddenly felt very hot and staticky. Russetfoot sighed and turned away with Boulderpelt and Skyflower, one of their Clanmates. Reedclaw saw them and tore his gaze away from Whitestripe, hatred burning inside him. He hated Whitestipe so much, it hurt. He decided to just walk away. He padded along next to Skyflower. He felt her glance at him. She mewed, “So, how’s everything?”
Reedclaw felt his pelt grow hot. He forced himself to reply, “Um, well, nothing much. You know, the usual.” His voice didn’t come out trembling so much, to his great surprise. He snuck a glance at the young she-cat. She was just so beautiful. He’d been thinking of her earlier, when he was talking with Boulderpelt. She smiled, a small yet glowing smile that still sent a shiver down Reedclaw’s spine. He saw that they were nearing camp, and made up an excuse to get away so that Skyflower could not find out about how he felt about her. “Um, I have to go on patrol.”
“But, Reedclaw, you were just on patrol!”
Reedclaw felt like clawing himself. Of course! He was returning from a patrol right now. How mousebrained could he get? “Oh, uh, sorry. I meant, I have to go see Pumpkinwhisker.” Pumpkinwhisker was his sister a nursery queen.
“Oh, I’ll come with you then.”
He sighed inwardly, and tried lying. “Please, Skyflower, I have something important and secret to tell her.” Her beautiful blue eyes seemed to dull with pain and hurt and turn from crystals of blue into a muddied dark puddle, but she said nothing. Trying to make it up to her, Reedclaw mewed, “But I’ll go hunting with you after that—just you and me.” They had arrived at camp, and he stopped in the clearing and pleaded with his own dark yellow eyes. “Then we can eat our catch together in the evening at the spring.” Skyflower’s eyes seemed to brighten a bit; the two dark pools began to seem to reflect the sky. It was said that at the clear spring, many cats who became mates started loving each other there.
“Okay,” she murmured. He felt relieved. Of course he wasn’t going to visit Pumpkinwhisker and her kits, he’d gone just before the patrol. He’d go off and hunt a little before meeting up with Skyflower at sundown. He sighed as she padded off. He’d be hunting the whole day. Oh well, he thought. The only thing was that he’d better be ready to see Skyflower and not have a nervous breakdown when the time came to meet her.
Reedclaw came into camp from behind the nursery, so that just in case Skyflower saw him, she’d think he was making his dirt after visiting Pumpkinwhisker, since cats usually made their dirt behind the nursery when they weren’t out of camp. He spotted her coming out from the warriors’ den and before she could see him, he skidded out into the clearing. He panted as she arrived. “Come on, let’s go, Reedclaw,” she called as she got near him. She touched her tail to his shoulder as she walked past. “Come on.” He stared at her for a couple heartbeats, marveling at her beauty, then ran up next to her as she exited camp through the thorn tunnel that served as a barrier for enemies if they didn’t know how to get through it. Darktail, Pumpkinwhisker’s mate, was on guard duty, and had a look of curiosity about his face that flitted off immediately. Nevertheless, the warrior nodded and let them go by without a word, his dark blue eyes watching them. Skyflower’s fur brushed Reedclaw’s, and a chill enveloped him. She seemed to get closer and closer until when they heard the roaring of the clear spring’s water, they were side by side, pelts touching. Skyflower glanced at him; Reedwhisker could feel the heat of her blue eyes. They unanimously decided to sit down right by the spring instead of hunting first. Skyflower whispered, “You know, I’ve wanted to tell you something for awhile now.”
“What’s that?” Reedclaw’s heart pounded; he knew she could hear it pound and pound, it was so loud. Dum-dum. Dum-dum. Dum-dum. She looked at him and he met her gaze. Clear pools of blue reflected a dark setting sun right next to them in the spring; it was the same with their eyes. Reedclaw cleared his throat. “So, um, want to hunt a bit?”
“Reedclaw, don’t change the subject.” Skyflower glanced around to see if there were any…listeners around the thin layer of oak trees. Beyond the small wood, there lay a vast area of clear land—AirClan’s territory. It was easiest for them to hunt there. Farther off, there was a huge lake that was the center of the Clans’ home. Across the lake, there were pine trees and a bit of wet marshland—FireClan territory. Their leader was Flamestar, and he was very hostile towards cats who didn’t like him and who were not of his Clan. Between AirClan and FireClan on one side, there was flat ground like part of AirClan’s--EarthClan territory. They were known for their ability to side with any Clan in a battle. Their leader was Miststar, a kind young she-cat who’d become leader just over a moon ago, when EarthClan’s leader before her, Duststar, had died of old age. Across the lake from EarthClan, and next to AirClan, Reedclaw saw streams and puddles through the oaks and at an angle across the lake—the edge of WaterClan territory. WaterClan was the Clan associated with water—the only Clan that fished and swam. He also saw a couple cats padding along the border between AirClan and WaterClan—right where the trees stopped, not far from where Reedclaw and Skyflower stood. Reedclaw stared at them and begged them in his mind to leave—if he was spotted with Skyflower at the spring, rumors would spread like a forest fire. Suddenly her sweet voice pierced the silent atmosphere. Skyflower mewed, “You know how I was going to tell you something? Well, about Midnightfang? I really, really like him.”
Chapter 3
Gentlepaw
Gentlepaw was very tired. She had not slept all night because of the suspension that had almost made her go into FireClan after she and Falconpaw had scented them in EarthClan territory. She had not told any cat, not even her closest friend, Flowerpaw, or Mirrorheart, her mentor and the medicine cat of EarthClan. As she padded out of the apprentice den, Miststar called out to her, “Gentlepaw! Could you come over here?” Gentlepaw was sure that Miststar knew about what had happened last night. “Uh...we were just doing some nighttime hunting…” she hesitated.
“What are you talking about? Oh, you meant when you went out with the dawn patrol yesterday, and you hunted before that while it was dark,” the silver she-cat replied.
“Uh…yeah…that’s it!” said Gentlepaw. “So, what did you want?”
“Oh yeah, could you wake up Rowanheart for me? I need to talk to her. ”
“Sure, I’ll go now.” Gentlepaw’s sleek black fur shone in the not-yet-fully-risen sun as she raced across the camp.
As Gentlepaw passed the apprentice’s den, Flowerpaw came out and yawned, “Where are you going?”
“Oh, I’m running an errand for Miststar.”
“Cool, bye.”
“Bye, see you later.” The young white she-cat, Gentlepaw’s best friend, bounded away to the fresh-kill pile. Gentlepaw wondered if Flowerpaw suspected. “Nah,” she murmured to herself, but only to convince herself that it wasn’t true. She went inside the warrior’s den and gently woke up Rowanheart. Also Firepelt’s mate (Firepelt was the smallest and fastest warrior in EarthClan), Rowanheart was a noble warrior and followed the warrior code. His apprentice was Flowerpaw. The ginger tom grumbled loudly in annoyance.
“What? I’m trying to sleep here.”
“Miststar needed you.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.” Contradicting himself, the orange-pelted warrior closed his eyes and rolled over again.
Gentlepaw padded away and almost ran into Falconpaw. “Hey, I was looking for you,” the tom meowed. “Let’s go to the Thunderpath and watch the FireClan territory from the border.”
“Why?”
“So we can find out what they’re up to.”
“Okay.” They took a fat vole from the fresh-kill pile and walked toward the ravine. As they looked back to the camp, Gentlepaw thought, we are so in trouble for this.
When they reached the Thunderpath, they saw Flamestar, the leader of FireClan, and Clawface, the deputy. They were discussing something in hushed voices when Gentlepaw cracked a small twig under her paw. She gasped. “Who goes there?” Clawface shouted suddenly. “Uh-oh,” Falconpaw whispered.
Chapter 4
Brookheart
Brookheart padded into camp, where she spotted her leader, Miststar, speaking to the medicine cat apprentice, Gentlepaw. Gentlepaw seemed really uneasy, but soon pelted off to the warriors’ den, running into Flowerpaw along the way. She seemed uneasy, once again, but soon began to run off to the warriors’ den again. She seemed in a rush to get something done. Brookheart sat down and began to groom herself. Gentlepaw soon came out, alone, and bumped into Falconpaw. They whispered a small conversation, then grabbed fresh-kill and padded out of camp. Gentlepaw still looked uneasy, but Falconpaw seemed casual. Brookheart frowned and got up, padding quietly after the young cats. Gentlepaw looked around as they left the camp, and Brookheart ducked behind an oak tree, brown pelt blending in great with the bark. Gentlepaw seemed satisfied that no cat was following her, and kept on walking with Falconpaw. Brookheart waited a bit, then slipped carefully behind them, far enough so they couldn’t see her and she couldn’t see them unless she strained her eyes. She kept her mouth open for their scent, and frowned again. They were heading towards the FireClan border. Why would that be? She sighed and thought, Someday they’ll get into big trouble if they don’t stop sneaking out. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen them sneak out, but it was the first time she had followed them for more than a few fox-lengths out of camp. They were skilled—they rolled in disgusting fox dung to cover their scent, or waited until it was raining, or even doubled around and leave their path, making their scent spread everywhere. They were really clever for a couple of apprentices. But why were they sneaking off all the time? That’s what had been worrying Brookheart. Or part of it. She shook her head to cast off the voice inside her head that she should go talk to some cat about what she’d seen the other day. It had been almost a quarter moon ago now since she had seen the terrible thing. In her heart she knew she should tell a cat—especially Sunclaw—but she didn’t want to worry him. He was a great friend, and she couldn’t lose their bond by telling him something he didn’t want to hear. And she knew he wouldn’t want to hear what she was longing to tell some cat. Brookheart was torn between loyalty to her friend and the urge to tell every cat what the danger was. They’d all been worrying, and all the medicine cats had gotten a prophecy from DreamClan:
The forest is no longer safe.
Two cats will betray their Clans.
Peace will no longer be.
Traitors will rise, and a fight will break.
The powers of nature will be forced to clash.
The fight will be the greatest in the history of Clans.
Unless four cats will arise…
And face hardships that will weaken and strengthen every cat.
They’d all been extremely confused. But Brookheart had an idea who the traitor was. She shook her head as she realized she’d lost the apprentices’ trail. She told herself to stop the musing and search. Nose to the ground like a dog—she’d found this method actually worked—and mouth open to catch and whiff of the scent—she searched. When she couldn’t find a trace of their scent, she sighed and sat down. Then she panicked. What if something happened to them? FireClan was really hostile and would take prisoners. No, they wouldn’t take prisoners—they’d kill all intruders at Flamestar’s command. And he certainly would command.
Chapter 5
Reedclaw
Reedclaw almost gasped, but just stared at the beautiful she-cat. After what seemed like a moon, Skyflower raised a brow. “Um, Reedclaw? Are you okay?” Reedclaw continued staring, golden eyes full of shock. Then he blinked, and stammered, “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” even though he knew that he wasn’t fine. Skyflower didn’t like him. She liked Midnightfang. Midnightfang! The dark tom was Reedclaw’s brother. His brother, for StarClan’s sake! They were the complete and total reflection of each other—except Midnightfang’s fur was a bit shorter. And Reedclaw believed his brother was an idiot. Why did Skyflower prefer Midnightfang? Why not Reedclaw, who adored her so, so, so much? His heart was broken. It felt like some cat had ripped a hole through his belly. Everything hurt, and the world was spinning. How could she have done this? Maybe Reedclaw had heard the wrong thing…after all, it could be possible. “Um, Skyflower, what’d you just say?”
She frowned at him, as if she was saying, You should have been listening! But then she sighed and told him, “I said I really liked Midnightfang. You know? Your brother? Pumpkinwhisker’s brother?”
So, he’d heard right. Or maybe he was dreaming. Maybe all this was a dream. “Um, Skyflower?”
“Yeah?”
“Bite me.” He meant it both literally and figuratively…but Skyflower didn’t understand.
“What?” She looked shocked and full of indignity.
“I said, bite me! Please!”
Her frown deepened, and assuming Reedclaw was just being weird, she sighed, but when he kept looking at her pleadingly—and meaningfully—she raised a brow and nipped him on the flank. Reedclaw flinched and murmured an “Ouch,” but nothing happened. He sighed. Skyflower liked Midnightfang. She was just using Reedclaw as a way to get to his brother. The two brothers had a close relationship, and Reedclaw didn’t want Skyflower to take that away from them. He had to make sure that she knew that he would not help her get to his brother—but how? He frowned in his turn, staring over Skyflower’s shoulder. After what seemed like seasons, he looked into her eyes—so beautiful. “Skyflower, I understand that you like Midnightfang. But I also understand what you’re doing. You want me to help you get to him, am I right?” He twitched his ears and tail as he waited for his answer; Skyflower looked uneasy. Finally she opened her jaws and mewed hesitantly, “Yes, Reedclaw, you’re right.” She looked away from him, not daring to meet his eyes.
He sighed, shoulders drooping. He didn’t want to do this to the cat he loved, but he had to. He had to! For me and Midnightfang.
“Well Skyflower, I won’t help you. You have to find a way to get Midnightfang to love you on your own.” He sighed as he finished, relieved he’d let it out. But as he surveyed the creamy brown she-cat, his amber optics widened. Her neck and shoulder fur was bristling, and her eyes had a look of wild rage. He took a step back as her tail began lashing.
“Reedclaw, how could you? I stayed by you, and still you betray me like this! Traitor!” As he frowned, she spun around and stalked away, disappearing behind fronds of ferns. Taken aback, Reedclaw sat down shakily and wrapped his tail around his nose, setting his chin on the broad black paws. His eyes flickered with hurt and confusion. How could she have done that? She was being so selfish! She had been using him all along, and now she called him a traitor! His claws slid out of their sheaths and were redrawn back in; Reedclaw was flexing the long, thorn-sharp weapons in frustration. How could he have ever liked her? Skyflower was a rude, selfish piece of fox-dung! He vowed never to trust she-cats again.
Chapter 6
Gentlepaw
Gentlepaw glanced at Falconpaw, and without speaking they decided to stay, not run. Clawface sniffed at the air, then shrugged, thinking it was just a possible piece of prey. The two young cats sighed with relief, then ducked a little lower out of fear of being discovered by the hostile cats. They could snag a little bit of the words that Flamestar was saying at the moment. “Attack…Gathering…drive out…rule…” Gentlepaw gasped and glanced, horrified, at Falconpaw. He had the same look in his bright yellow eyes, which were seemingly three times as wider than they usually were. He glanced at the elm next to them, then back at Gentlepaw, then pointed with his tail at himself, the Gentlepaw, then at the branches of the tree. Gentlepaw nodded, and the two cats glanced at the discussing FireClan cats, who hadn’t noticed anything. They’re so oblivious! Gentlepaw thought. But, that’s a good thing—for us. She rolled her eyes at Falconpaw, who then nodded and jumped onto the tree, claws digging into the ancient bark that had lived before their ancestors. He climbed, fast, up to the second-highest branch. He was totally silent. Why can’t I be like that? Gentlepaw asked herself. Why am I so clumsy? Maybe that’s why I’m not a regular apprentice and a medicine cat. But she sighed and dug into the bark, following Falconpaw’s clawmarks, with almost no noise. As she pulled herself up onto the same thick branch Falconpaw was on, a squirrel scurried down as fast as it could, afraid of the two would-be predators. The branch creaked a little, and the two apprentices held their breath, not even daring to glance at each other lest they made a noise.
But Clawface and Flamestar hadn’t heard anything, and after a few heartbeats longer than they needed to stay frozen, Gentlepaw and Falconpaw sighed in relief, and Falconpaw exclaimed softly, “I thought we were dead!” Gentlepaw almost laughed, but realized that the FireClan cats would probably hear. Instead she smiled broadly and glanced back at the cats.
Chapter 1
Brookheart
Brookheart shivered. It was the middle of leaf-bare, and she was out on an unsuccessful hunting patrol with her best friend Sunclaw, apprentice Hawkpaw, and another Clanmate, Whitefrost. She was lagging behind, thinking, and Hawkpaw stepped back to talk to her. "What's wrong?" he mewed. Brookheart shook her head and replied, "Nothing, just thinking." Her apprentice was kind enough not to answer. She thanked StarClan that he was so smart, because she did not particularly want to discuss the subject with him, nor any other cat. Suddenly her ears caught a sound. She recognized the sound of a squirrel scuffling the ground with its paws to find a nut. She turned, dropped into the hunter's crouch, and padded forward as lightly as she could, avoiding the dead leaves on the ground. She soon noticed that the squirrel was more than a bit scrawny, but that was normal for leaf-bare. She got close and pounced, digging her claws into the creature's throat before it could squeal. She took it in her powerful jaws, turned, and raced back toward the patrol. “Wait! I gart somfin!” she mewed, the squirrel garbling her speech. “Huh?” asked Whitefrost. She dropped the squirrel and repeated, "I found this. It's probably running short on provisions. Would have starved, anyway."
"Good job," Sunclaw said.
"Hey, I'm not an apprentice," she mewed, frowning.
"Well, I'm sorry for congratulating you for finding prey in this...cold."
"Whatever." She turned and walked back to camp, yowling back, "I'm going back. Good luck on your own." She knew she got mad easily, but Brookheart knew this was over the top. Returning home from a hunting patrol just a while after leaving for it? It just didn't happen. But she had another thought on her mind, and it was nagging her.
Chapter 2
Reedclaw
Reedclaw glanced at the rabbit. It was nibbling at a nut near a heather clump, at the entrance of its burrow. He dropped into the hunter’s crouch, crept up very quietly up behind the rabbit, and pounced. He killed it fast and mercifully with a bite in the throat as soon as his claws had sunk into its light brown fur and pierced its skin. He swiveled around, and trotted quickly up to the rest of his hunting patrol. The young tom picked up the rest of his catch—a swallow, a mouse, and a thrush—and found he couldn’t hold it all in his mouth. A great catch for the middle of leaf-bare. He dropped his fresh-kill and mewed quietly to a Clanmate, Boulderpelt; “Can you help me carry this prey?” Boulderpelt hadn’t caught much; he’d gotten unlucky. The older warrior had only caught a small vole and a scrawny squirrel. He dipped his head. “Very well.”
Suddenly, a smile crept around Reedclaw’s lips. Boulderpelt narrowed his eyes. “What?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Though he didn’t say anything, Reedclaw’s yellow eyes sparkled like the sun. Boulderpelt’s own optics narrowed until they were merely a slit; Reedclaw could barely see the tom’s amber orbs. Boulderpelt opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, then they heard a yowl coming from behind them, a little far off. “Reedclaw! Boulderpelt! What’s keeping you?” It was Russetfoot, their deputy. She had a short temper and was pretty impatient, so both cats glanced at each other, picked up the fresh-kill, and scurried up the hill like mice to catch up with the rest of the patrol. Whitestripe, a cat who always made fun of every other cat and seemed to like to be mean—maybe that was a reason why he had almost no friends—smirked. “Really, you two need to stop chatting and pay attention more. I’d think that you didn’t realize you weren’t an apprentice anymore, Reedclaw.” Reedclaw unsheathed his claws and his lips pulled back in the beginning of a snarl, but Russetfoot cut in before he could say anything, or do what he was tempted to do—jump on top of Whitestripe and rip his fur off. “You two, stop. Now.” Both cats glared at each other, dark yellow and reddish-tinted eyes meeting and seeming to send off an electric charge into the air. The atmosphere suddenly felt very hot and staticky. Russetfoot sighed and turned away with Boulderpelt and Skyflower, one of their Clanmates. Reedclaw saw them and tore his gaze away from Whitestripe, hatred burning inside him. He hated Whitestipe so much, it hurt. He decided to just walk away. He padded along next to Skyflower. He felt her glance at him. She mewed, “So, how’s everything?”
Reedclaw felt his pelt grow hot. He forced himself to reply, “Um, well, nothing much. You know, the usual.” His voice didn’t come out trembling so much, to his great surprise. He snuck a glance at the young she-cat. She was just so beautiful. He’d been thinking of her earlier, when he was talking with Boulderpelt. She smiled, a small yet glowing smile that still sent a shiver down Reedclaw’s spine. He saw that they were nearing camp, and made up an excuse to get away so that Skyflower could not find out about how he felt about her. “Um, I have to go on patrol.”
“But, Reedclaw, you were just on patrol!”
Reedclaw felt like clawing himself. Of course! He was returning from a patrol right now. How mousebrained could he get? “Oh, uh, sorry. I meant, I have to go see Pumpkinwhisker.” Pumpkinwhisker was his sister a nursery queen.
“Oh, I’ll come with you then.”
He sighed inwardly, and tried lying. “Please, Skyflower, I have something important and secret to tell her.” Her beautiful blue eyes seemed to dull with pain and hurt and turn from crystals of blue into a muddied dark puddle, but she said nothing. Trying to make it up to her, Reedclaw mewed, “But I’ll go hunting with you after that—just you and me.” They had arrived at camp, and he stopped in the clearing and pleaded with his own dark yellow eyes. “Then we can eat our catch together in the evening at the spring.” Skyflower’s eyes seemed to brighten a bit; the two dark pools began to seem to reflect the sky. It was said that at the clear spring, many cats who became mates started loving each other there.
“Okay,” she murmured. He felt relieved. Of course he wasn’t going to visit Pumpkinwhisker and her kits, he’d gone just before the patrol. He’d go off and hunt a little before meeting up with Skyflower at sundown. He sighed as she padded off. He’d be hunting the whole day. Oh well, he thought. The only thing was that he’d better be ready to see Skyflower and not have a nervous breakdown when the time came to meet her.
Reedclaw came into camp from behind the nursery, so that just in case Skyflower saw him, she’d think he was making his dirt after visiting Pumpkinwhisker, since cats usually made their dirt behind the nursery when they weren’t out of camp. He spotted her coming out from the warriors’ den and before she could see him, he skidded out into the clearing. He panted as she arrived. “Come on, let’s go, Reedclaw,” she called as she got near him. She touched her tail to his shoulder as she walked past. “Come on.” He stared at her for a couple heartbeats, marveling at her beauty, then ran up next to her as she exited camp through the thorn tunnel that served as a barrier for enemies if they didn’t know how to get through it. Darktail, Pumpkinwhisker’s mate, was on guard duty, and had a look of curiosity about his face that flitted off immediately. Nevertheless, the warrior nodded and let them go by without a word, his dark blue eyes watching them. Skyflower’s fur brushed Reedclaw’s, and a chill enveloped him. She seemed to get closer and closer until when they heard the roaring of the clear spring’s water, they were side by side, pelts touching. Skyflower glanced at him; Reedwhisker could feel the heat of her blue eyes. They unanimously decided to sit down right by the spring instead of hunting first. Skyflower whispered, “You know, I’ve wanted to tell you something for awhile now.”
“What’s that?” Reedclaw’s heart pounded; he knew she could hear it pound and pound, it was so loud. Dum-dum. Dum-dum. Dum-dum. She looked at him and he met her gaze. Clear pools of blue reflected a dark setting sun right next to them in the spring; it was the same with their eyes. Reedclaw cleared his throat. “So, um, want to hunt a bit?”
“Reedclaw, don’t change the subject.” Skyflower glanced around to see if there were any…listeners around the thin layer of oak trees. Beyond the small wood, there lay a vast area of clear land—AirClan’s territory. It was easiest for them to hunt there. Farther off, there was a huge lake that was the center of the Clans’ home. Across the lake, there were pine trees and a bit of wet marshland—FireClan territory. Their leader was Flamestar, and he was very hostile towards cats who didn’t like him and who were not of his Clan. Between AirClan and FireClan on one side, there was flat ground like part of AirClan’s--EarthClan territory. They were known for their ability to side with any Clan in a battle. Their leader was Miststar, a kind young she-cat who’d become leader just over a moon ago, when EarthClan’s leader before her, Duststar, had died of old age. Across the lake from EarthClan, and next to AirClan, Reedclaw saw streams and puddles through the oaks and at an angle across the lake—the edge of WaterClan territory. WaterClan was the Clan associated with water—the only Clan that fished and swam. He also saw a couple cats padding along the border between AirClan and WaterClan—right where the trees stopped, not far from where Reedclaw and Skyflower stood. Reedclaw stared at them and begged them in his mind to leave—if he was spotted with Skyflower at the spring, rumors would spread like a forest fire. Suddenly her sweet voice pierced the silent atmosphere. Skyflower mewed, “You know how I was going to tell you something? Well, about Midnightfang? I really, really like him.”
Chapter 3
Gentlepaw
Gentlepaw was very tired. She had not slept all night because of the suspension that had almost made her go into FireClan after she and Falconpaw had scented them in EarthClan territory. She had not told any cat, not even her closest friend, Flowerpaw, or Mirrorheart, her mentor and the medicine cat of EarthClan. As she padded out of the apprentice den, Miststar called out to her, “Gentlepaw! Could you come over here?” Gentlepaw was sure that Miststar knew about what had happened last night. “Uh...we were just doing some nighttime hunting…” she hesitated.
“What are you talking about? Oh, you meant when you went out with the dawn patrol yesterday, and you hunted before that while it was dark,” the silver she-cat replied.
“Uh…yeah…that’s it!” said Gentlepaw. “So, what did you want?”
“Oh yeah, could you wake up Rowanheart for me? I need to talk to her. ”
“Sure, I’ll go now.” Gentlepaw’s sleek black fur shone in the not-yet-fully-risen sun as she raced across the camp.
As Gentlepaw passed the apprentice’s den, Flowerpaw came out and yawned, “Where are you going?”
“Oh, I’m running an errand for Miststar.”
“Cool, bye.”
“Bye, see you later.” The young white she-cat, Gentlepaw’s best friend, bounded away to the fresh-kill pile. Gentlepaw wondered if Flowerpaw suspected. “Nah,” she murmured to herself, but only to convince herself that it wasn’t true. She went inside the warrior’s den and gently woke up Rowanheart. Also Firepelt’s mate (Firepelt was the smallest and fastest warrior in EarthClan), Rowanheart was a noble warrior and followed the warrior code. His apprentice was Flowerpaw. The ginger tom grumbled loudly in annoyance.
“What? I’m trying to sleep here.”
“Miststar needed you.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.” Contradicting himself, the orange-pelted warrior closed his eyes and rolled over again.
Gentlepaw padded away and almost ran into Falconpaw. “Hey, I was looking for you,” the tom meowed. “Let’s go to the Thunderpath and watch the FireClan territory from the border.”
“Why?”
“So we can find out what they’re up to.”
“Okay.” They took a fat vole from the fresh-kill pile and walked toward the ravine. As they looked back to the camp, Gentlepaw thought, we are so in trouble for this.
When they reached the Thunderpath, they saw Flamestar, the leader of FireClan, and Clawface, the deputy. They were discussing something in hushed voices when Gentlepaw cracked a small twig under her paw. She gasped. “Who goes there?” Clawface shouted suddenly. “Uh-oh,” Falconpaw whispered.
Chapter 4
Brookheart
Brookheart padded into camp, where she spotted her leader, Miststar, speaking to the medicine cat apprentice, Gentlepaw. Gentlepaw seemed really uneasy, but soon pelted off to the warriors’ den, running into Flowerpaw along the way. She seemed uneasy, once again, but soon began to run off to the warriors’ den again. She seemed in a rush to get something done. Brookheart sat down and began to groom herself. Gentlepaw soon came out, alone, and bumped into Falconpaw. They whispered a small conversation, then grabbed fresh-kill and padded out of camp. Gentlepaw still looked uneasy, but Falconpaw seemed casual. Brookheart frowned and got up, padding quietly after the young cats. Gentlepaw looked around as they left the camp, and Brookheart ducked behind an oak tree, brown pelt blending in great with the bark. Gentlepaw seemed satisfied that no cat was following her, and kept on walking with Falconpaw. Brookheart waited a bit, then slipped carefully behind them, far enough so they couldn’t see her and she couldn’t see them unless she strained her eyes. She kept her mouth open for their scent, and frowned again. They were heading towards the FireClan border. Why would that be? She sighed and thought, Someday they’ll get into big trouble if they don’t stop sneaking out. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen them sneak out, but it was the first time she had followed them for more than a few fox-lengths out of camp. They were skilled—they rolled in disgusting fox dung to cover their scent, or waited until it was raining, or even doubled around and leave their path, making their scent spread everywhere. They were really clever for a couple of apprentices. But why were they sneaking off all the time? That’s what had been worrying Brookheart. Or part of it. She shook her head to cast off the voice inside her head that she should go talk to some cat about what she’d seen the other day. It had been almost a quarter moon ago now since she had seen the terrible thing. In her heart she knew she should tell a cat—especially Sunclaw—but she didn’t want to worry him. He was a great friend, and she couldn’t lose their bond by telling him something he didn’t want to hear. And she knew he wouldn’t want to hear what she was longing to tell some cat. Brookheart was torn between loyalty to her friend and the urge to tell every cat what the danger was. They’d all been worrying, and all the medicine cats had gotten a prophecy from DreamClan:
The forest is no longer safe.
Two cats will betray their Clans.
Peace will no longer be.
Traitors will rise, and a fight will break.
The powers of nature will be forced to clash.
The fight will be the greatest in the history of Clans.
Unless four cats will arise…
And face hardships that will weaken and strengthen every cat.
They’d all been extremely confused. But Brookheart had an idea who the traitor was. She shook her head as she realized she’d lost the apprentices’ trail. She told herself to stop the musing and search. Nose to the ground like a dog—she’d found this method actually worked—and mouth open to catch and whiff of the scent—she searched. When she couldn’t find a trace of their scent, she sighed and sat down. Then she panicked. What if something happened to them? FireClan was really hostile and would take prisoners. No, they wouldn’t take prisoners—they’d kill all intruders at Flamestar’s command. And he certainly would command.
Chapter 5
Reedclaw
Reedclaw almost gasped, but just stared at the beautiful she-cat. After what seemed like a moon, Skyflower raised a brow. “Um, Reedclaw? Are you okay?” Reedclaw continued staring, golden eyes full of shock. Then he blinked, and stammered, “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” even though he knew that he wasn’t fine. Skyflower didn’t like him. She liked Midnightfang. Midnightfang! The dark tom was Reedclaw’s brother. His brother, for StarClan’s sake! They were the complete and total reflection of each other—except Midnightfang’s fur was a bit shorter. And Reedclaw believed his brother was an idiot. Why did Skyflower prefer Midnightfang? Why not Reedclaw, who adored her so, so, so much? His heart was broken. It felt like some cat had ripped a hole through his belly. Everything hurt, and the world was spinning. How could she have done this? Maybe Reedclaw had heard the wrong thing…after all, it could be possible. “Um, Skyflower, what’d you just say?”
She frowned at him, as if she was saying, You should have been listening! But then she sighed and told him, “I said I really liked Midnightfang. You know? Your brother? Pumpkinwhisker’s brother?”
So, he’d heard right. Or maybe he was dreaming. Maybe all this was a dream. “Um, Skyflower?”
“Yeah?”
“Bite me.” He meant it both literally and figuratively…but Skyflower didn’t understand.
“What?” She looked shocked and full of indignity.
“I said, bite me! Please!”
Her frown deepened, and assuming Reedclaw was just being weird, she sighed, but when he kept looking at her pleadingly—and meaningfully—she raised a brow and nipped him on the flank. Reedclaw flinched and murmured an “Ouch,” but nothing happened. He sighed. Skyflower liked Midnightfang. She was just using Reedclaw as a way to get to his brother. The two brothers had a close relationship, and Reedclaw didn’t want Skyflower to take that away from them. He had to make sure that she knew that he would not help her get to his brother—but how? He frowned in his turn, staring over Skyflower’s shoulder. After what seemed like seasons, he looked into her eyes—so beautiful. “Skyflower, I understand that you like Midnightfang. But I also understand what you’re doing. You want me to help you get to him, am I right?” He twitched his ears and tail as he waited for his answer; Skyflower looked uneasy. Finally she opened her jaws and mewed hesitantly, “Yes, Reedclaw, you’re right.” She looked away from him, not daring to meet his eyes.
He sighed, shoulders drooping. He didn’t want to do this to the cat he loved, but he had to. He had to! For me and Midnightfang.
“Well Skyflower, I won’t help you. You have to find a way to get Midnightfang to love you on your own.” He sighed as he finished, relieved he’d let it out. But as he surveyed the creamy brown she-cat, his amber optics widened. Her neck and shoulder fur was bristling, and her eyes had a look of wild rage. He took a step back as her tail began lashing.
“Reedclaw, how could you? I stayed by you, and still you betray me like this! Traitor!” As he frowned, she spun around and stalked away, disappearing behind fronds of ferns. Taken aback, Reedclaw sat down shakily and wrapped his tail around his nose, setting his chin on the broad black paws. His eyes flickered with hurt and confusion. How could she have done that? She was being so selfish! She had been using him all along, and now she called him a traitor! His claws slid out of their sheaths and were redrawn back in; Reedclaw was flexing the long, thorn-sharp weapons in frustration. How could he have ever liked her? Skyflower was a rude, selfish piece of fox-dung! He vowed never to trust she-cats again.
Chapter 6
Gentlepaw
Gentlepaw glanced at Falconpaw, and without speaking they decided to stay, not run. Clawface sniffed at the air, then shrugged, thinking it was just a possible piece of prey. The two young cats sighed with relief, then ducked a little lower out of fear of being discovered by the hostile cats. They could snag a little bit of the words that Flamestar was saying at the moment. “Attack…Gathering…drive out…rule…” Gentlepaw gasped and glanced, horrified, at Falconpaw. He had the same look in his bright yellow eyes, which were seemingly three times as wider than they usually were. He glanced at the elm next to them, then back at Gentlepaw, then pointed with his tail at himself, the Gentlepaw, then at the branches of the tree. Gentlepaw nodded, and the two cats glanced at the discussing FireClan cats, who hadn’t noticed anything. They’re so oblivious! Gentlepaw thought. But, that’s a good thing—for us. She rolled her eyes at Falconpaw, who then nodded and jumped onto the tree, claws digging into the ancient bark that had lived before their ancestors. He climbed, fast, up to the second-highest branch. He was totally silent. Why can’t I be like that? Gentlepaw asked herself. Why am I so clumsy? Maybe that’s why I’m not a regular apprentice and a medicine cat. But she sighed and dug into the bark, following Falconpaw’s clawmarks, with almost no noise. As she pulled herself up onto the same thick branch Falconpaw was on, a squirrel scurried down as fast as it could, afraid of the two would-be predators. The branch creaked a little, and the two apprentices held their breath, not even daring to glance at each other lest they made a noise.
But Clawface and Flamestar hadn’t heard anything, and after a few heartbeats longer than they needed to stay frozen, Gentlepaw and Falconpaw sighed in relief, and Falconpaw exclaimed softly, “I thought we were dead!” Gentlepaw almost laughed, but realized that the FireClan cats would probably hear. Instead she smiled broadly and glanced back at the cats.
